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PDF Files For Games And Activities

Click on any of the GREEN buttons below to download the desired files.  
I will continue to finish and upload these files as time permits.
​These materials are copyrighted, but I give permission for teachers, tutors, and parents to download, save, and print any file to use with their own students or children.  All other uses are prohibited.
Alphabet Wall Charts
These charts should be printed on white 11" by 17" ledger sized paper.  Some assembly is needed, involving cutting and taping some of the pages to other pages for charts that are too large to fit on a single page. ​
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Use the alphabet wall charts with the following books.  These alphabet charts are also included in the short vowel and phonics patterns charts.
  • ​​Learning The Alphabet, Books 1 And 2
  • Exploring Sounds In Words​
Short Vowel Wall Charts
These charts should be printed on white 11" by 17" ledger sized paper.  Some assembly is needed, involving cutting and taping some of the pages to other pages for charts that are too large to fit on a single page. 

These charts include the alphabet charts.

​Using the short vowel wall charts with any of the short vowel books.  
  • Rhyming Short Vowel Words And Sentences
  • Mixed Short Vowel Words And Sentences
  • Two-Page Short Vowel Words And Sentences
  • Basic Short Vowels
  • Color-Coded Short Vowel Lists
  • Short Vowel Booklets
Phonics Pattern Wall Charts
These charts should be printed on white 11" by 17" ledger sized paper.  Some assembly is needed, involving cutting and taping some of the pages to other pages for charts that are too large to fit on a single page. 

As students work through the phonics patterns level, for some patterns they will learn only one sound initially and then will learn one or more additional sounds for the same pattern in a later book.  In this case, more than one version of the charts that show those patterns are included.  This is done so that students are not confused by seeing sounds they have not yet learned.
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Use the phonics patterns charts with the following books.  
  • Phonetic Words And Stories, Books 1-8
  • Basic Phonics Patterns, Books 1, 2, 3, 4, 5-6, 7-8
  • Know The Phonetic Code, Volumes 1-3
  • Know The Phonetic Code, No Stories
  • Advanced Phonics Patterns From Children's Books (For Review)

Updated Version Of Older Alphabet Wall Cards

I've updated an older version of the wall charts, creating two different versions.  The sets include alphabet wall cards to be printed on legal sized paper or card stock.  Each card shows a model of the correct letter formation for a letter of the alphabet, along with a sound picture in color from A Sound Story About Audrey And Brad.  The sound picture shows the sound for each letter.  In addition to the letters of the alphabet, letters and letter patterns from Part 2 of the sound story are also included.  These are the "Beyond The Alphabet" sounds, which include the long vowel and dotted vowel sounds, two vowel diphthong sounds, and five consonant digraph sounds.  If a sound picture can be represented by more than one letter or letter pattern, the additional patterns are shown in smaller print at the bottom of the page. 
  • In version one, all of the letters and letter patterns are printed in black print. 
  • In version two, the vowels are printed in specific colors to indicate specific vowel sounds. 
You can listen to the sound story read aloud under the audio tab on the menu.  Part 1 of the sound story can also be played as a set of videos under the video tab.  You will be able to hear the sound represented by each sound picture and the letters that represent each sound.  

Older Wall Charts From Previous Web Site

I'm adding links to the older wall charts from the previous web site.  When I can, I'll sort out the pictures and put them with the correct PDF files.  At this point, I'll get the files loaded so you can download them and see if they are what you need.  These are charts I had on my first grade classroom wall at various times from about 2005 through 2011.  Even though I've added newer charts (see above) to match the charts in the newer Sound City Reading books, I still really like these older charts.
Here are some miscellaneous pictures of the older wall charts.   The crayon chart pictures are farther down on the page.  Click on any picture to enlarge it.  PDF downloads are available below.
On the charts below, the patterns that have not yet been introduced have been turned to face the wall.  Or perhaps, I was in the process of putting up the various pieces and hadn't finished yet, using the blank pages as place holders.
These charts have black and white sound pictures and show the alphabet letters on lines for handwriting reference.  Both long and short vowel sounds are included, along with some extra sounds, such as sh, oi, etc.  The various vowel patterns are shown on either colored backgrounds or plain white backgrounds.  On these charts, lower case letters are shown before the capital letters, because these are the letters most frequently used by the students.  
These alphabet cards show only the consonants and short vowels.  The sound pictures are in color.  The short vowels are printed in a specific color for each short vowel.  On these cards, the capital letters appear before the lower case letters. 
These charts should be printed on 11" by 17" paper.  They include color-coded phonics patterns with key words.  Patterns are included for short vowels, long vowels, dotted vowels, odd o patterns, bossy-r patterns, and beginning and ending consonant digraphs.
Print these full color charts on legal sized paper.  Large designs show bossy r patterns with pictures to illustrate key words, evergreen trees to show ack, ang, ank, and adge ending sound patterns with each short vowel, a sun image to show the ce, ci, cy patterns, and an airplane picture to show the ge, gi, gy patterns.  
Print these digraph forest pictures on green card stock to use with the brown tree trunks included in the set described above.  Includes phonics patterns and the related sound pictures.   
Print this set of charts on legal sized paper.  The charts show short, long, and dotted vowel sounds, basic consonants along with advanced consonant patterns, umbrella vowels, odd o patterns, sounds for y, bossy r patterns, and consonant digraph patterns and any advanced ending syllable patterns that have the digraph sounds.  The phonics patterns and key words have color-coded vowels.  A sound picture is included on each page.      
Print these charts on legal sized paper.  Color-coded phonics patterns and key words are shown for the various vowel patterns.  Sound pictures are included on the charts.
"Crayon" Wall Charts
Click on the photos of the crayon charts to enlarge them.  The picture on the right shows a combination of the crayon charts with the original version of the Secret Stories charts (see https://www.thesecretstories.com/ for the newest version of those charts - it's a very good program). 
This file has lined paper for writing very large, medium, and small letters.  You can have students write directly on the paper or place the pages under a clear report cover taped to a sheet of card stock.  Students can write on the clear covers with a dry-erase marker, erase, and continue to practice as needed.

Oral Blending Cards

Handwriting Pages To Make Dry Erase Boards

Eleven sets of oral blending cards,
​# 1-11.  There are eight picture cards in each set.  Includes compound words, two-syllable words, and two-sound words.
Eleven sets of oral blending cards, 
# 12-22.  There are eight picture cards in each set.  Includes three-sound words.

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Eleven sets of oral blending cards,
# 23-33.  There are eight picture cards in each set.  Includes four-sound and five-sound words.

Game Instructions
Scroll Down To See Individual Games
I have instructions for most of the learning games that I put together during the years 2014-2015.  Click the Game Instructions button above to download the file.

I have not updated the games in this file so that they match the newest books that I've uploaded to this site, however the instructions will provide you with a general idea about how to play each game.  The specific patterns taught in the games at each level will sometimes need to be changed because the order in which the patterns are taught has changed in some of the books.

Plastic Alphabet Letters - Where To Order

Here is a link to order sets of small plastic letters.  The link on the left is to the home page for the web site.  The link on the right take you directly to the page to order the alphabet letters.  Students can use these when they are learning the alphabet to help them learn to identify each letter.  At higher levels students can use the letters to spell words.  The letters at the linked web site, Abecedarian, are very reasonably priced.  By listening to the sounds in words and arranging the letters that represent those sounds, students begin to understand how to spell words phonetically.  This helps students understand the sound-symbol relationship in words, which in turn opens the door to help students read (decode) words phonetically.

Games And Activities

Letter Matching
This is the simplest game for students who are beginning to learn the letters of the alphabet.  It is a matching game, so students who cannot yet remember the names and sounds for the letters can still be successful.
Students match plastic alphabet letters with letter outlines.
Letter Recognition And Sound Association
Students take turns selecting apple cards which have been placed face down on a table.  Each apple shows a letter of the alphabet.  If a student can say the correct sound for the letter, he or she can place it above his apple basket.  The student with the most apples at the end of the activity wins.

The sequential sets can be used with students who are still learning the letters of the alphabet.   A new set of apples is used for each new group of letters introduced.  
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The other set has all the letters from A to Z, for students who have studied the entire alphabet.
These apples are the same size and shape as the apple alphabet pieces in the Apple Alphabet games described above.  However, in this game, the apples are arranged face down on the table in several rows.  Students turn over two apples at a time to see if they match.  If they do match, and the student can say the correct sound for the letters, the pieces can be removed and kept.  The student who collects the most apples wins the game. 
Beginning And Ending Sound Awareness
Learning To Pronounce Two-Letter Combinations - Saying "Silly Sounds"
If you pronounce two-letter combinations like ab, ac, ad, and af, you are not saying real words.  That is why, in this program, they are called "silly sounds," because they don't really mean anything.  At Level 2 in this program, Exploring Sounds In Words, students practice saying these two-letter combinations on a regular basis.  It prepares them to begin reading three-letter short vowel words. 
Students "pick" raspberry cards and pronounce the two-letter vowel-consonant combinations shown on the cards, putting the sounds together smoothly.  There is a different set of raspberries for each short vowel.  Example: ub, uc, ud, uf, ug, etc.  
In these letter connection activities, the teacher slides a short vowel card down the left side of several columns of consonants, creating combinations such as ab, ac, ad, af, ag, and ak.  Students say the vowel sound followed by the consonant sound, sliding the sounds together smoothly. 
The large Letter Connection activity is big enough to use with the whole class.  It can be displayed on an easel or chalkboard.
The small Letter Connection activity can be used flat on the surface of a table or on a small tabletop easel.  It can be used with individual students or small groups.
Level 4 - Phonics Patterns
In this game, students practice saying the sounds for the letter patterns taught in Part Two of  A Sound Story About Audrey And Brad.  In this program, these patterns are called the "Beyond The Alphabet Sounds."  The patterns include the consonant digraphs sh, th, ch, and ng, along with the long vowel sounds and other vowel sounds.  Some cards show letter patterns and other cards show sound pictures.   
Students get extra practice identifying new phonics patterns as they play this game.  Students choose a caterpillar head and then pick body sections to place in a row after the head.  The body sections show the phonics patterns that have been recently taught.  Students may only keep a piece if they can say the correct sound for that pattern.  There are fifteen different sets which will be used as students work through Phonetic Words And Stories, Books 1-8.  The sets can also be used with Basic Phonics Patterns, Books 1, 2, 3, 4, 5-6, and 7-8 and with the Know The Phonetic Code books, since each set of books introduces the same phonics patterns in the same sequence.
In this game, students sort small cards with long vowel patterns on them onto three different city  buildings.  Students must look at the pattern carefully, say the sound (or sounds), and decide if the pattern is a Vowel-Vowel pattern (VV), a Vowel-Consonant-E pattern (V_E), or a Vowel-Consonant-Consonant pattern (VCC).
This activity includes ten different file folder games.  Students read words from small cards and place the cards on the matching pictures on the file folder.  There are two sets of games. 
  • The first set includes five file folder games, one for each short vowel.  Students read short vowel words and place them on the matching pictures. 
  • The  second set of five folders includes both short and long vowel words and pictures.  Each of these folders has pictures that show short vowel words on the left side and long vowel words spelled with a Vowel-Consonant-E pattern on the right side.
Sight Word Game
This file includes instructions and sight word cards to play a sight word game.  Print the cards on white card stock, laminate if desired, and cut into individual cards.  Students take turns selecting and reading sight word cards.  Students collect as many cards as possible by reading them correctly.  The cards earned are arranged on the table in front of each student.  After each turn, the student rolls a die and take one of the following actions, depending on the number rolled.  Any cards taken at this point are placed in a stack and set aside for that student.  Once cards are in a stack they cannot be taken.  When all the cards have been read, the student with the most cards in his or her stack wins the game.  
  1. Take your own cards.
  2. Do nothing.
  3. Take the cards from the person on the right.
  4.  Take the cards from all players, including your own.
  5. Do nothing.
  6. Take your own cards. 

Sound City Reading
All Materials Copyright 2025 or earlier by Kathryn J. Davis, All Rights Reserved
My goal is for as many people as possible to use this reading program to teach students how to read.  All of the materials you need are available on this site as free PDF files.  The materials are copyrighted, but I give permission to all teachers, parents, tutors, and school systems to download and print any of the PDF files for use with the students they teach.    However, they are not to make a profit from distributing the materials.  If you don't have a printer, using a print shop is allowed.  If preferred, you may work with the PDF files directly from a computer screen, without printing them.  This makes it possible for tutors to teach the program online.  Audio and video files are free to watch and to listen to, and they may be downloaded if desired for use with your  students.  In special cases I may grant written permission to individuals to use the materials in other ways.  You can contact me at [email protected].